Help me plan a west coast trip.

[mrsmith9]

Help me plan a west coast trip.

We just completed a 5 day / 4 night trip to DLR. It wasn’t long enough; we needed at least one additional day at the resort. We are already planning our next trip back which unfortunately won’t be for another 3-5 years. However next time we are thinking of extending our trip and spending at least two weeks out west (we are from Florida). When you spend a full day flying out, and another day flying back you feel like you should do more once you arrive on the other coast. So besides DLR what else should we do on the west coast?

Our trip with include two 40 something adults and two children, 5 and 10. I thought about maybe starting out at the Grand Canyon for a few days and then head west to Anaheim. Or starting out at Yosemite and then heading down south to Anaheim. In addition to the make believe magic of Disney, I though it might be nice to expose our children to the real life magic of a national park.

It just doesn’t seam like there is any convenient way to get from either of these national parks to Anaheim. Both are long drives and neither have convenient access to any air ports. For Yosemite it appears like I would have to fly into Reno, NV and then spend a lot of time driving. For the Grand Canyon it looks like I would have to fly into Vegas and then spend a lot of time driving, in the desert.

Has anyone done anything like this? Can you give me any advice?

 

[KateDrake]

Yosemite is absolutely amazing! It is something everyone should see in their lifetime. We can easily spend an entire week there!
That said, it really isn't very convenient to DLR. You can fly into Fresno, which is what we usually do, and rent a car. That is still a drive of a couple of hours, but it is closer than Reno. I guess you could then fly down from Fresno to LA or Long Beach, but you might want to do a separate trip to Northern Cali instead, and maybe take in San Francisco, Yosemite, etc.
There is still a ton to do in Southern Cal if you want to make it a longer trip. We love to spend some time down in San Diego, seeing the zoo, Wild Animal Park, Sea World, etc. Our fav hotel is the Hotel del Coronado, which is the basis for WDW's Grand Floridian. Old Town San Diego is fun too.
Or you could spend time in LA. Check out the Old Hollywood sites, take in a performance at the Walt Disney concert hall, see the great art at the Getty, see a TV show taping, etc. Tons to do!

 

[SomeDude78]

That's a pretty doable itinerary but you'll have to figure out what you want to do around the Grand Canyon days, because there aren't any major airports in that area. There's a little regional airport right next to the park that you can fly to if you though.

But if we're talking larger airports then it'll either be Vegas or Phoenix. Since Vegas is on your itinerary anyway, I'd probably be inclined to do something like this:

1. Fly to Vegas.

2. Drive to Grand Canyon, do whatever there, return to Vegas (it's ~6 hours driving each way and you pass the Hoover Dam en route).

3. Drive from Vegas to Anaheim (~4 hours).

4. Drive from Anaheim to Yosemite (~6 hours).

The only question, then, would be what airport to return home from. You can pick from Reno, Sacramento, Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose, etc. It's 3-4 hours from Yosemite to any of those destinations, although you should probably consider what time of year you're doing because some of the mountain passes to/from Yosemite close during winter.

Unfortunately long drives through the desert will likely be part of the fun since California is big and largely desert You can substitute flights for some of the drives (for instance you can fly from Vegas to Southern California and from Southern California to the SF Bay area), and of course just like Grand Canyon, Yosemite also has a tiny airport next to it, but honestly some of the time savings may not be worth it. For example, if you fly from Southern California to the SF Bay with the ultimate goal being to get to Yosemite, then that'd still be a 1 hour flight followed by a 3-4 hour drive, which isn't that different than just doing the 6 hour drive.

As for other things to do, I'll assume theme parks and beaches won't be of much interest since you're from Florida. San Francisco is always an option -- I live in the area and despise the place so I can't really give you an unbiased opinion but tourists seem to love it -- which may be worth considering if you do make Yosemite your last stop since the major airports are all in the SF Bay. There are also lots of outdoors things to do up in the old Gold Country areas and also Lake Tahoe, like the redwoods and what not.

If you haven't been to San Francisco, then my personal call would probably be to make that your final stop after Yosemite and fly from there, because they have the most direct flights out east and usually the cheapest fares, plus it's the most popular tourist destination in Nor Cal. If San Francisco is already "been there, done that" territory then Lake Tahoe is smack dab between Sacramento and Reno so you can always check it out en route to one of those airports.

 

[karrit2000]

It's a long drive to do Grand Canyon & then head to Disneyland. Yosemite is pretty far too. One time I split my time between San Diego & Disneyland. Another time I went to Joshua Tree National Monument. I think I also started one trip at Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks & then ended at Disneyland. That was a more manageable distance than Yosemite I think.

 

[SomeDude78]

P.S.
It also depends how you want to experience the Grand Canyon ... if you want to just see it briefly or from a distance, there are helicopters that take you there from Vegas and it's a quick trip. If you want to actually get out and really do stuff (highly recommended since you're out this way anyhow) then of course that wouldn't fly (pun unintended!) obviously.

P.P.S.
The other option would be if you forgo Yosemite ... if you do that, then you can always consider the ever-popular drive from So Cal to Nor Cal (or the other way around) along the coast via Highway 1. There are a bunch of small towns and attractions along the way like Solvang (little Dutch village type of thing), Pismo Beach (lots of wineries in the vicinity), Oceano Dunes (could be fun to ride some ATVs here for adults but your little ones will be too small), Hearst Castle, Cambria, Big Sur, and so on. The drive will be right along the coast and there won't be any deserts in sight. Be aware that it's a LONG drive though ... basically it's tourists that do this drive while all the locals (except people playing with their sports cars and motorcycles) just shoot down the middle on boring and ugly highway 5 haha. If you go this way, you'll eventually wind up in the vicinity of places like Monterey (17 Mile Drive and Pebble Beach), Carmel By The Sea, San Francisco, and so on that are popular places to visit as well. And of course there's always wine country up in Napa Valley. It kind of depends what you're into ... as a previous poster mentioned, there are other parks closer to So Cal that are similar to Yosemite like Kings Canyon, but it lacks the big rock faces and recognizable structures and so on. Yosemite is the one that kind of makes things a bit tricky, the rest can all be bundled together in a fairly logical manner as long as you're okay with some moderate-length driving.

 

[mrsmith9]

I am I crazy trying to do this with a 5year old. Should I wait a few more years till she is older and do more of the activities?

I went to the Grand Canyon when I was 5, but I barely remember it. I do remember that I missed out on a lot of the activities like the rafting trip and the mule ride.

 

[mrsmith9]

I absolutely love San Diego, and have stayed at the Del. This is a great adult (couples) trip, not sure what we would do with the kids there. I have little or no desire to go to Sea World or the Zoo.

Kind of the same goes for San Francisco. Something I would love to do with my wife, but not sure about taking the kids along.

 

[SomeDude78]

I am I crazy trying to do this with a 5year old. Should I wait a few more years till she is older and do more of the activities?

I went to the Grand Canyon when I was 5, but I barely remember it. I do remember that I missed out on a lot of the activities like the rafting trip and the mule ride.

IMO it depends how much you typically travel. If time and money to travel isn't tough to come by, then I don't see the 5 year old as an issue. I have a pair of toddlers and haul them around with me everywhere. I definitely wouldn't take her on the rafting trip or the mule ride at the Grand Canyon though ... rafting she probably won't be allowed, for the mule ride I'm not sure what the policies are but it's a long and tiring ride (even the short version) and I don't think younger kids would enjoy it much even if they're allowed.

If time or money to travel are tight then it may make sense to wait a few years so your kiddo gets more out of the trip and tolerates long drives better. Or do a separate trip that's more catered to her ... I never like the idea of delaying vacations because life can throw you a curve ball at any moment that derails everything, but that may be born out of my own outlook on life than anything else. I say GO FOR IT if you've got the means ... you can take more vacations but you can never turn back the clock

 

[mrsmith9]

One idea might be to
1. Fly into Reno
2. Spend a night or two in Lake Tahoe
3. Drive down to Yosemite for a couple of nights
4. Then down to Sequoia & Kings Canyon
5. Then down to Anaheim for a week
6. And fly home from SNA or LAX

I just wonder how exhausted we’ll be once we actually get to DLR? One of the advantages of being an east coaster at DLR is you easily make rope drop and all the morning magic hours and get al lot done before noon. If we do all those other things first, we’ll have acclimated to the time change and it will be more difficult to take advantage of those morning advantages.

 

[SomeDude78]

Oh ya not sure if you're a foodie or anything, but there's of course the French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley. That's a destination (more like pilgrimage) by itself for some folks LOL.

 

[mrsmith9]

IMO it depends how much you typically travel. If time and money to travel isn't tough to come by, then I don't see the 5 year old as an issue. I have a pair of toddlers and haul them around with me everywhere. I definitely wouldn't take her on the rafting trip or the mule ride at the Grand Canyon though ... rafting she probably won't be allowed, for the mule ride I'm not sure what the policies are but it's a long and tiring ride (even the short version) and I don't think younger kids would enjoy it much even if they're allowed.

If time or money to travel are tight then it may make sense to wait a few years so your kiddo gets more out of the trip and tolerates long drives better. Or do a separate trip that's more catered to her ... I never like the idea of delaying vacations because life can throw you a curve ball at any moment that derails everything, but that may be born out of my own outlook on life than anything else. I say GO FOR IT if you've got the means ... you can take more vacations but you can never turn back the clock

The means are a little tight, so getting across country is half the battle. That’s why I want to cram in as much as possible once I get there. But maybe that’s a mistake.

 

[SomeDude78]

One idea might be to
1. Fly into Reno
2. Spend a night or two in Lake Tahoe
3. Drive down to Yosemite for a couple of nights
4. Then down to Sequoia & Kings Canyon
5. Then down to Anaheim for a week
6. And fly home from SNA or LAX

I just wonder how exhausted we’ll be once we actually get to DLR? One of the advantages of being an east coaster at DLR is you easily make rope drop and all the morning magic hours and get al lot done before noon. If we do all those other things first, we’ll have acclimated to the time change and it will be more difficult to take advantage of those morning advantages.

To me it depends how you're planning the Yosemite --> Kings Canyon --> Anaheim leg. It's been a long time since I did the drive, but IIRC the drive from Yosemite --> Kings Canyon takes almost as long as the drive from Yosemite --> Anaheim. It's a significantly shorter drive, but traffic moves slower, and Yosemite is way out east while Kings Canyon is WAY out east, meaning you'd have to deviate from your course to So Cal in order to visit Kings Canyon. How tired you'll be will depend on what kind of planning you have in mind surrounding hotel stays during this leg IMO.

The other way to look at it is that dropping either Yosemite or Grand Canyon simplifies things. Sounds like you'd rather see Yosemite than the Grand Canyon, I assume?

 

[mrsmith9]

Part of the reason I want to do more out there is based on the reaction I got from my extended family about our recent trip to DLR. When I told them where we were going / where we went, they all responded with something along the lines of “you just went to Disney? You didn’t do anything else while you were all the way out there?”

Which made me think we should have done and seen more with we were out there. Heck we didn’t get to do everything we wanted to do with there last trip (5 days / 4 nights at the Grand Californian) so I couldn’t imagine wasting a moment anywhere else. But if we extended the trip to two weeks we could do more.

I also feel bad because we spend a lot of time with our kids at Disney parks. We go to WDW at least once a month or more, and my 7 year old son has already been to DLR twice. At some point I need to expose my kids to the natural beauty outside the Disney park birms.

 

[SomeDude78]

The means are a little tight, so getting across country is half the battle. That’s why I want to cram in as much as possible once I get there. But maybe that’s a mistake.

It may be, depends on your personal tolerance (and maybe that of your kids) on being in the car for extended periods. I travel frequently for both work and leisure so there's not too many drives that bother me, and my kids are used to getting stuck in the car for a long time as a result, so factor that in to my personal take If you want to minimize driving and take some of the edge off a crammed schedule, then I'd agree that breaking Nor Cal and So Cal into separate trips would be wise. The itinerary you've laid out would work, but you may feel rushed which of course wouldn't be great while on vacation.

If I had to pick one, it'd be So Cal personally ... the only thing is that most of the attractions in So Cal like amusement parks (heck even Disney) and beaches are things that you already have in your home state... There are always nice museums down there, not sure if you're into that though.

Nor Cal has IMO a lot fewer entertainment options overall than So Cal, but it does have more natural outdoors stuff that you don't find in FL like the redwood forests. Do you have a time frame in mind for when you want to go? For instance, if it's winter, then you may not be able to access Yosemite at all from certain directions, but Tahoe would have lots of skiing/snowboarding. If it's summer then pretty much anything goes and it'll be your call, although Vegas and Grand Canyon will be quite hot so perhaps marginally less desirable (then again you're from FL so I doubt that'll bother you much).

 

[disneegrl4eva]

I absolutely love San Diego, and have stayed at the Del. This is a great adult (couples) trip, not sure what we would do with the kids there. I have little or no desire to go to Sea World or the Zoo.

SD has legoland, Sea World, the zoo and tons of beach

Kind of the same goes for San Francisco. Something I would love to do with my wife, but not sure about taking the kids along.

SF is a blast for adults or kids...tons of stuff to do on the pier....there is ghiradelli square, pier 39 which has a merry go round and lots of cool shops, the entire fishermans wharf is really good in general...boat excursions, alcatraz, japanese tea garden, china town, golden gate park...

there is a ton of stuff to do for kids and adults

 

[mrsmith9]

The other way to look at it is that dropping either Yosemite or Grand Canyon simplifies things. Sounds like you'd rather see Yosemite than the Grand Canyon, I assume?

I want to see both but not necessarily on the same trip.

When I was in high school we took a extended western US trip.
Denver, CO to Cheyenne, WY to Mount Rushmore, SD to Yellowstone, WY to Grand Teton, WY to Park City/Salt Lake City, UT to Reno, NV to Lake Tahoe/Cason City, NV/CA to Yosemite National Park, CA to Sequoia National Park, CA through Death Valley, CA to Las Vegas, NV to the Grand Canyon (North Rim), AZ to Four corners (AZ/UT/NM/CO) to Durango, CO to Aspen, CO and back to Denver.

In that trip we tried too hard to see too much w/o truly taking the time to enjoy any of it. But then again it’s a trip I’ll never forget.

 

[SomeDude78]

I want to see both but not necessarily on the same trip.

When I was in high school we took a extended western US trip.
Denver, CO to Cheyenne, WY to Mount Rushmore, SD to Yellowstone, WY to Grand Teton, WY to Park City/Salt Lake City, UT to Reno, NV to Lake Tahoe/Cason City, NV/CA to Yosemite National Park, CA to Sequoia National Park, CA through Death Valley, CA to Las Vegas, NV to the Grand Canyon (North Rim), AZ to Four corners (AZ/UT/NM/CO) to Durango, CO to Aspen, CO and back to Denver.

In that trip we tried too hard to see too much w/o truly taking the time to enjoy any of it. But then again it’s a trip I’ll never forget.

Now THAT is a trip!!!! In all seriousness I'd say pppffftttt to what your extended family says, if you enjoyed DLR then go to DLR and take your sweet time, it's not like CA is teeming with things that can never be found in FL. Honestly the states are pretty similar IMO, except we swapped hurricanes for earthquakes, we exchanged ridiculous humidity for ridiculous droughts, and we have Disneyland, Universal Studios, and Sea World ... oh wait ...

You can always do Grand Canyon as part of a "western parks" trip like a lot of folks do and combine it with the other parks in Utah and New Mexico for example. And Yosemite is about 3 hours from SF so you can always go there if you're in Nor Cal. If Disneyland is the only must-do on the list then IMO that makes Grand Canyon the easy choice for which of the two national parks to visit this time around though. So maybe something like this?

1. Fly to Vegas (or even Phoenix).

2. Drive to Grand Canyon, do whatever, drive to Vegas.

3. Drive from Vegas to Anaheim and hang out in So Cal, fly out from SNA or LAX.

There's still some decent driving in there but only for Grand Canyon. Vegas to Anaheim is only ~4 hours which I don't consider overly long, and then once you're there, the driving will be over and you can take your sweet time with DLR or whatever else since you'll obviously have a car.

 

[splashtastic!]

I haven't done this myself, but if I ever get "stuck in Vegas," I'm going to try the Luxbus: http://www.luxbusamerica.com/index.php

I have this plan that if I ever travel to Vegas with my extended family, I intend to ask my daughter and my three nieces to go to DLR with me via the Luxbus. (Hopefully leaving everyone else in Nevada.) I love that they will drop you off at the hotel you choose and pick you up at the hotel when you return to Vegas. It may be less expensive to rent a car but I don't want to worry about traffic, parking, cost of fuel, etc. I think the girls and I will enjoy each others company while someone else worries about taking the correct exit and "finding" the hotel.

 

[Hootch]

a long Western trip this summer - sort of hopping out and back.

Memphis to Mesquite, TX for a rodeo.

Carlsbad Caverns to tour the caves.

Roswell, NM and White Sands National Monument

Tombstone, AZ and Sonoran Desert Museum if we can fit in.

A couple of days in San Diego

LA for three days including time at Disney

Las Vegas just to see the strip.

Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon and Painted Desert/Petrified Forest

Four Corners, Aztec, NM and Sandia Tramway

Bradbury Museum in Los Alamos

Oklahoma City Memorial and Cowboy Museum

Head home

We will have another trip in a couple of years to hit Yosemite, San Francisco and Carmel with thing there and back.

I would wait a couple of years at least. We did a week in DC two years ago and our daughter, almost seven at the time, did not retain much. I think we will have to take her back when our son heads off to college.

 

[nannyz]

I am a senior citizen now, but way back when I was 13 years old, my family took me to see the giant redwoods.
I will never forget seeing those magnicifent trees. And if you think oh they're just big trees -- think again.
I would not go west and not see them.